Vending apparatus for liquids



May 10, 1927.

v R. R. ROBINSON VENDING- APPARATUS FOR LIQUIDS Filed March 2. 1925 I5 Sheets-Sheet '1 i MW ATTORNEY6 May 10, 1927. 1,628,194

R. R. ROBINSON VENDING AP1?ARATUS FOR LIQUIDS Filed March 2.- 1925 I5 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 10, 1927'.

/ R. R. ROBINSON VENDING APPARATUS FOR Lmums Filed March 2. 192,5 a She'et's-Sheet 5 INVENTOR;

.Fabmaa fill 7% ATTORNEY gi B I II Patented May 10,-1927.

ROBERT R. BOBJ INSON, OF LOSAK'GELES; CALIFORNIA ASSIGNOB TO TUGY II. HICKS,

CALIFORNIA.

I vnnnme. A nea-res 'roa mourns.

Thisinvention relates to vending appara-v tus for vending liquids, and while the invention is capable of use for vending liquids of any kind, in' the present specification it is described as vending'apparatus for gasoline. The invention is particularly useful in this connection-for the reason that persons operating motor cars at night frequently require gasoline when they pass gasoline stations that have been closed by reason of the late hour. The invention is also capable of installation as an automatic gasoline station which will not require the services of an attendant except occasionally to see that the 5 apparatus is operating properly. The general ob'ect of the invention is to provide means or .efiecting the sale of liquids, and particularly gasoline in an automatic or semiautomatic manner without necessitating the presence of an attendant at the station. In

one embodiment of the invention, the inech nism is win controlled and is, therefore, 'su ine which is delivered.

stantially automatic in its operation. In another embodiment of the invention, the

apparatus may be controlled from a central station. j

Other objects of the invention will hereinafter. The invention consists in the novel parts and combination of parts to be described hereinaftenall of which contribute to produce an efficient vending apparatus for 4 liquids; A pre appear ferred embodiment of I the invention 5 isd scribed in the following specification,

whil the broad scope .of the invention is pointed out in the appended claims.

' 7 iIn -the drawings:

. Fig. 1 isa side elevation broken away and partially'in section, illustrating an embodimel lt of the invention in tus is coin controlled. v 4

Fig. 2 is a detail illustrating aportionof -a coin chute. f Fig. 3 is a. vertical section taken through the coin slide about on the line 3+3 of which the appara-' f 4 is a diagrammatic view, illustrating theinvention sis-embodied a telephone tem orarily w apparatus for completing the partial control, which is efi'ected by the coins inserted in the coin slotsg;

Fig. 5 is a section with parts broken away,

and taken about on line 5-5 of Figure 10,

illustratin the details of the electrical 'apparatusf w ich is a feature of the invention. when. the control is entirely automatic through the agency of the inserted coin; this VlQW, may be regardedas a section on the line 55 of Fig. 10, but with parts of 6 the mechanismomitted. a

Fig. 6 is a side elevation partially broken awa and shown in section, illustrating one of .t e coin slides and its contiguous parts.

Fig. 7 is a horizontal cross section taken on the line 7-7 of Fi 10, looking upwardly and illustrating details of aldetent ratchet wheel and'detent awl' which cooperates with it; this is a detail of the automatic stop device which determines the amount of gaso- Fig. 8 is a side elevation further illustrating details of the coin slots and slides shown in Fig. .6; in this view contiguous parts are broken away.

Fig. 9 is a broken section taken about on the line. 9'-9 of Fig. 5 and further illustrating ,details of the driving connection through which the stop device may be set,

and through which the actuating'means for 30 the gasoline measuring cylinder iscontrolled.

Fig. 10 is a'side elevation-inpartial section with certain parts broken away, and I further illustrating the. mechanism including the holdin magnet for holding the coin gen it has been inserted in the mac ine. p v

Fig. 11 is a: cross section on the line 11 1I- of Fig. 10, particularly illustrating details 'of the construction device.

Fig. 12 is a horizontal-section taken about on the ,line 12-12 of Fig. 10 and illustrating details of the valve mechanism-.an d partieularly' the auxiliary valve which controls P 1.

flow of the operatingfifluid to and from the actu cylmder w operates' the'measc der.

and operation of the stop Fig.1?) is a horizontalcross section lookm upwardly and taken about on the line '10" control is not entirely automatic but in which the apparatus at the vending station is 13-13-of Fig. 10.

Fig. 14 is a side elevation of thecoin contacts showing their normal relation, that is, before the coin is inserted. 1 p

Before proceeding to a detailed description of the apparatus, it will facilitate the disclosure" to state that Fig. 4 shows an embodiment of the invention in which the provided with coin slots for the insertion of coins of different denominations. This station is in telephonic communication with a, central station where an attendant, having noted that a certain coin has been inserted, will close a switch which will efi'ect the delivery. of the desired amount of gasoline. The other figures-of the apparatus il- I lustrate a-completely automatic mechanism in which the apparatus automatically effects' the delivery of the desired amounts of gasoline.v i

In the automatic controlled apparatus,

"-andfreferring particularly to Fig. 1, 1 repres sentsv a casing in which there is mounted a measuring cylinder- 2 carrying within it a measuringpiston 3. Any-suitable. means may be provided for.snpplyi.ng this measuring cylinder with the liquid to be dispensed,

such as gasoline. In 'thisconnection, it

shoul e understood that the piston normally ests at one end of the cylinder and being deliveredunder the piston 3. .The piston is provided with a check valve 6 the cylinderlis kept full ofgasoline. In

the present instance, the cylinder 2 is mount-- ed in a vertical position and the piston 3 at its'bottomj Thecylinder is supplied with gasoline through its lower end from a supply tank 4 through which the liquid passes upwardly past the check yalve 5,-

which permits gasoline to flow upwardly on every down stroke, that is to say, in

the return movement of the measuring piston which occurs after every measuring movement. V v

'An; automatic stopdevice is provided, the

function of which is to arrestithe measuringmo'vement of the piston. If desired, this stop device .can be constructed so that it will permit a single movement of predetermined amount of the measuring pistonin which case it would merely dispense the amount of gasoline corresponding to a coin of a certain denomination. In the present instance, howeverf I prefer to'con struct the automatic stop device as a variable-stop device so that it operat in conjunction with coin controlled ap aratus,'the opera- .tion being that the var'ia le stop deyice will be set to correspond with the denomination ofthe inserted coin.-- ""i l lus' automatic means for controlling the electricity by a source of E.

branch circuit has been opened.

stop device and for controlling the actuating means which actuate thev measuringtrols the flow of operating fluid to the actuating cylinderwhich will be presently described. When the coin is inserted in the slot, it closes the circuit 8 through a branch circuit 11 through the agencvof a holding switch 12, there being several of these branches, each branch to correspond with the denomination of the coin insertedi- Each branch circuit also includes a switch 13 corresponding to it, and these switches 13 are normally closed. v

In the normal position otjthe core 10, itwill be disposed in a position to the left of' that illustrated in Fig. 5. When the branch circuitis closed by the inserted coin,

the coil 9 is energized and the core 10'is' moved towardthe left. Thecore operates automatically depending uponthe denomina tion' of the coin inserted,-t'o stop the move: ment of the core at a predetermined point.

For example, in Fig.5 thecoin switch 12*- is represented as closed and the core is shown in a position-advanced beyond the loo two switches 13 at the left. The core is. I provided with means for 'openmg, these switches as it passesthem. The switch at the left may correspond, if desired, toa twpnty-five cent coin, and the middle swltchcorrespond. to a fifty-cent coin, and

the switch 12" correspond to a silver .dol-f lar. The switches 13 may be opened by means of a tooth 14 on the core cooperating with a toothed space 15. on each pivoted switch member. 16. In this way itwill be seen-that when the tooth 14 opens the switch corresponding to the branch'circuit which has been closed by, the coin, it will open the circuit through the coil 9 and stop the advancing movement of the core. In other words. this apparatus determines the amount of movement of the core.

I shall now describe the means bywhich.

this mov .ment affects the stop device and sets'it; also th vothermechanisin controlledby this core. Any suitable means may be provided to enable the -core 10 to, actuate this other mechanism. In the present instance. I provide a rack 17 attached to the end of the core and provide means,'suchas a coil spri. g 18, attached 'to the end of the rack to return it after the closed The' rack 17 drives a driving ratchet and pawl device19 (see Figs. 9 and 10), which includes a driving member 20 in the form of a gear wheel meshing with the rack. This gear wheel carries a driving pawl 20 (see Fig. 5), which cooperates with the teeth of a driving ratchet wheel 21. This driving ratchet wheel is connected'by a sliding coupling 22 with a rotary stop shaft 23 which is disposed in a vertical position (see Fig. 10), and parallel with a .rod 24 which con-. nects the measuring piston 3 with a fluid operated actuating cylinder 25. '(See Fig. I.) This shaft carries aplurality of stops 26 which are adjustably mounted on it by reason of the fact that the shaft is provided with a continuous screw thread 27. These stops project at different angles progressively from the shaft (see Fig. 11). They are arranged so'that any one of them may project into the path of a stop-head or disk 28 carried at the lower endof the rod 24. (See Fig. 1.) When one of the stops is in the path of this stop-head, the other stops are out of its .path. In this waythe rotary shaft operates asa variable stop device to stop the movement ofjthe measuring piston at a plurality of selective-points. Any suit.- able automatic means may be provided which is controlled by engagement of the stop-head with the 'stop to effect the return of the Incasuring p' ton andto-elfectthe return'of the other arts to their initial position.

However, I shall first-describe the mecha-' nism for controlling the flow of the o eratting fluid to and-from the actuating cy index 25. For this purpose,;I form a part of the sliding connection 22 into a cam 29. and when the gear wheel 20,is rotated this cam of course rotates also. I provide valve mecha nism controlled by the rotation of .these parts and this valve. mechanism includes a main valve 30 (see Fig. 13),'the stem 31 of which'engages the face of the cam 29 so that when the cam is rotated the .stem 31.will be pushed inwardly, therebyunseating the ball valve 32 which is normall held on its seat by the spring 33. This w ll. admi-tjan oper- "ating; fluid, such as compressed air, from a a main reservoir, not illustrated, through a supply pipe 34 and'this air,'aft er passing the main valve 30, passes through a connection 35 to an auxiliary valve orcock 36 -(see Fig. Y

12). This auxiliary valve 36 is connected up to an auxiliary airfreservoir 37 (see Fig. 1)

by a pi e 38. When thefcan 29 isrota'ted as described, a Genevagearfiiigrigid on the shaft 23 cooperates with another Geneva gear 40 on the plug 41 vofth'efvulve :36 and .rotates it intoithe position 'shown in Fig. 12.

This to flow from the pipe 35 the of the auxiliary'valve i 36 'ifit d a .pipe v43whi'ch leads to the lowerend rfthe actuating cylinder2 5 and delivers .-l h under th r 23 will continue .under the influence ion 44 at the same time compressed air flows ppst theauxiliary valve andfills the auxiliary tank 37. The Geneva gears are intermittent gears so that when the gear 39 has rotated the auxiliary valve 36 to the position shown in F ig. '12, no further rotation will take place, the periphery of the Geneva pipe 43 to the atmosphere through a port 46 in the side ofthe auxiliary valve. In the position of the valve shown in Fig. 12, the upper end of the actuating cylinder 25 'is connected by a. pipe 47 through a port 48 to the atmosphere through a port 46, and at the same time air from the auxiliary tank is admitted through pipe 38, port 42 and pipe 43 to the lower end of the actuating cylinder 25. This actuates the piston 3. In other words, the auxiliaryvalve'is constructed so that itcan admit the fluid under pressure to eithcr'end of the actuating cylinder 25 while it opens the other end of the cylinder to the atmosphere.

i The slip connection 22 may be of any suitable construction, and in the present instance, it includes pins or studs 49 rigidly attached to a disk 50 on the lower end of the shaft 23 (see Fig. 9), and these studs or pins slide freely in corresponding openings 51 in the body of the cam 29. a

It should be understood that by reason of the .Geneva gears, after the gear 39 has opened the auxiliary valve it can continue to rotate as far as mav be necessary to'set the proper stop 26 of thes'top shaft 23 in'position to cooperate withthe stop-head 28. Returning means is. provided which exerts a force in a direction to rotate the stop shaft 23 back to its initial position and for this purpose the'lower'portion of the cam 29 is formed into a drum or pulley 52 carrying a .belt53- which runs over and is attached to a pulley 54 which is connected with a coil spring 55. \Vhen'the shaft 23 is rotated to set it to the proper position,'this spring 55 is heldagainst returning the shaft at once to its initial position through the agency of a detent ratchet wheel 56which is carried on thefupper end of the shaft 23 and which cooperates with a detent pawl 57. When the stop-head 28 strikes the stop which is set in upwardl 56 out o the cam on the shaft 23 and their cooperating parts back to their position. 1 -he slip connection permlts the shifting movement of the shaft 23- without disconnctingit from the driving gear 20.

-When the spring 55 pullsthe shaft 23 back to its initial position, rotation of the r nose of the pawl toward the ratchet wheel further in, in' such way t at it mightinters- 55 from interferin ea dotted lines in F'g. 5.

of the spring 55* until a radial stop finger -I shall now-describe the coin slides, refer- 58 comes up against a fixed stop or stop ringespecially to Figs. 6, .8 and 10. As il post 59 (see Fig. 13), and this stop finger lust-rated in Fig. 8, there are three coinslots 58 is so placed with respect to the detent 7 corresponding to the different denominaratchet wheel 56 that when the stop finger tions. At the left of each coin slot I provide 58 against the post 59 the detent ratchet wheel will be in such oriented position that it can shift back when the shaft 23 descends sons to come into the plane of the detent m pawl. In other words, this detent ratchet wheel will be held in position so that the nose of the detent pawl will be aligned with the -toothed space of the ratchet wheel as indicated in Fig. 7. This prevents any possibility of a tooth of the ratchet wheel projecting across the 'pawl so as to prevent the ratchet wheel from comingback into the plane of the pawl. The detent pawl 57 is pressed by a spring '60 which presses the be shoved forwardly, thereby advancing the coin: \Vhen this occurs, the stem of the knob or button 70 slides forwardly in a horizontal slot 71.

preventing slugs or spurious coins from operating the device. In the present 1nstance, I pI0V1d8;a teeter 72, wh1ch 1s pivweight 74, the organization of parts being sltch that when the slide .68 advances the coins'out onto the arm 75 of the teeter, if the coin is too light, it will not depress the arm 75 -and -hence'the coin cannot fall into the coin chute 76. In this connection reference is'had to Fig. 3, which shows a guardplate 77 behind the plane of the slide 68. This guard 77 is formed with an opening 78 but the edge'79 of this opening projects but in .order to keep the awl from moving fere with the return of the ratchet wheel to the plane of the pawl, I rovide the pawl 25 with a tail 61 which is he d against a stop pin 62 by the action of the spring.

When the spring 55 rotates the shaft 23 back to its initial position, it, of course, also returns the valve mechanism to its initial position, thereby .admitting airfifrom the auxiliary tank 37 to the up e'r end of the actuating cylinder 25 and t is automatically returns the measuring piston 3 to its initial position. I provide means for shifting the shaft 23 downwardly automatically at the end of the. return stroke of the meas'urin piston 3. For this purpose 'I providemeaonthe'stop shaft-23M engage thestop-head 28 at the end ofits stroke to shift the shaft i0. 23 downwardly. In the present instance, I this function is performed b "the Geneva gear 39, the perip cry of whic projects into 7 the path of the stop-head. (See Fig. 10.)

.In order to ermit the shifting of the- Shaft 23 to and. o as described above, I pro vide l means for' holdin it yieldingly in I either of its shifted ,positions. For this pur- 'tweenntwo ggcontacts 80, 81, the latter of pose, a frame member 63, which guides the lower end of the stop sha'ft 23, is'provided with a sring pressed pin 64 which cooperatesa with .either one of two grooves 65 formed in the shaft in the vicinity of the. annular pin. (See Fig. 10.) In ordergto prevent the driving pawl 20". with the backward rota-J tion of the sha 23 in returning it to its", initial position, I rovide this pawl with a tail 66 which, in t e normal position ofthe upper edge of-the coin-sup orted .on the arm and if the weight of th ficient to depress the arm 75, the upper edge 79 kee s the coin from falling away from back thecoin will follow it and will run back down the'arm' 75 which is slightly inclined upwardly toward its right end (refer to Fig. 6). If the coin is too heavy, itwill depress the arm 7 5 and fall out to one side and will not ass into the coin chute 76.

the proper weight, it depress the arm 75 and fall into the chute 76 as, the slide 68 shoves thecoin toward the-end of the arm.

energize the coil 9. (Refer to Fig. 10.) As

is connected .by a conductor 82 to a holding coil or electromagnet 83. These coils 83 corcated in Fig. 5. When, the current energizes the holding coil 83 it pulls open its core 84,

lever 85 carrying the contact 81. This position. After the circuit is broken, a coil gear wheel 20, comes a ainst an adjustable spring 86' ulls the bell crank lever 85 back 60 stop 67; In other'wor s, after the-gear 10 against a xed stop 'pin 87.1 It should be has been operated to seat the variable stop understood-that in position "of the bell device in its proper position, thelspring 18 'crank lever 85, the contacts 80.and'81 will-be brings the gear wheel 20 back until the pawl occupies, the position indicated in out' and, at the sametime, they are near enough together to that a coin pass- Any'suitable means may be provided for oted at 73 and has an adjustable counterdown sufliciently so that it engages over the f the sli e and hence when the slide 68 moves If the coin is t e proper coin, and hence has,

the coin falls down this chute, it comes be the end of whichds attached to a bell crank pressesthe contact 81 over against the con-" tact 80 and holds the coin-temporarily in 1 p a coin slide 68 (see Fig.6) having aretractile spring 69 and a knob 7 O which is adapted to e coin is not suf- I shall now describe the manner in which thepropercoin closes the electric circuit to which is grounded and the former of which respond to'each branch circuit also indifar enough apart .to permit the coin to fall ing between the contacts will close the branch circuit. They per ends (see Fig. 14).

It will be noted that the stop shaft 23 is provided with more than three stops 26.

This is done in order to enable aperson to insert a number of coins, f or example, three quarters in rapid succession, each quarter being inserted immediately. after the spring 18 has returned the core to its normal position. In this way,-by inserting two or-- three coins in succession, the sto shaft 23 can be-given a succession of rotations by the successive movements of the core 10. In

other words, the insertion of a second coin can be accomplished in operating the machine any time before the measuring piston 3 is started on its return ,movement. -However, I provide means for preventing the insertion of the coin after the ine'asuring piston has started on its return movement, or rather just as it i's'about'to start on its return movement. For this purpose, I provide a locking plate 88 (.see Fig. 8), which is guided to slide vertically. in cleats 89..

' The under ddge ofthis locking plate is provided with aplurality of slots 90, each slot this locking one arm of which is formed into a a pin 94 extending outwardly from a bracket 95 on the back. of the locking plate.

I-also provide means, such as the dial 96,

- for indicating the position in which the stop shaft 23..has been set '(see Fig. 10).

The numbers of this dial pass before a window 97 in thelcasing 1 and this dial is driven -In the embodiment of the. in

through bevel gears 98, from the upper end of the shaft 23. The beveled gear 99 is con nected 'to the shaft-.23 through a square or angu ar slip coupling 100.-'

ion 1llus- 'he appatfated inFig. 4, Iprovide a tele I ratus 101 onthe outer side 0 "the casing 102 and cableswith conductors. 103. tocon- H "meet this telephone with another telephone ".10 1 at 'a-centra'P' station. A.bell 105, such as the bell shown in Fig. 1, indicatesfto the opergtor" at the central station the character of the coin which has been inserted at one of'the coinslots 106 and the operator at the central stationthen closes by hand a switch 107 in the proper branch circuit 108 I-tofenergize an electromagnet similar to the electromagnet 9 shown in Fig. 5 within the casing 102. The restsof the mechanism with-' converge at their up- 'for the soiind of the bell and would then.

desired amount of gasoline.

A contact device 105 is wired to ring the bell 105 in case an unauthorized person close the proper switch 107 to deliver the opens the door to the coin box 76 (see i Fig. 1).- p

Any suitable means may be provided for delivering the gasoline from the casing 1. As illustrated in Fig. 1, when the piston 3 rises the asoline is .forced out through M port-110 0 used. through a gauze screen 111 and passes up a. standpipe 112 where it. flows into alch'amber 113 in the upper end of the casing and above a hood 114. This hood 114 is provided with a delivery elbow 115 9 connected with a pipe 116 which is connected ;to a flexible hose 117. Tllis hose ends in a loop, (not illustrated), so that the free end 118 of the hose may be'hooked at u the side of .the easing. This end of the liose is provided with a nozzle 119 for directing. the stream of gasoline into the tank of the automobile.

When the ap aratus is standing idle, of coursethe stan pi e 112 would be. substan- 1 tially full of gasoline so that as soon as the upward movement of the pistdn 3 started gasoline would commence to flow through the delivery pipe 116. The dome 120 of the chamber 115 would be provided with a vent 121 to permit escape of gasoline vapors and prevent danger from explosions. 7

Of course the price of gasoline variesfrom week to Week, However, this fact is,

taken care of in my'a'pparatus by reason of tomatic type of the apparatus, w en a purchaser inserts the proper coin" in one of the coin slots 7, the com comes into osition beforeg-the coin slide 68, whereupon t e mr- 1 chaser'gthen shoves the coin slide Lforwar by moving the knob 70.horizontally in the slot 71. If the coin-is the proper coin, when it advances-outLover. the arm 75, it will depress'the arm and fall into the coin chute- 76 whereuponr it will pass between the two contacts 80 and 81- (see Fig.- 10), and this 'will close'a circuit through the holding coin.

83 and through the solenoid coil 9. -(See Fig. 5.) Through the agency of the bell crank lever 85 the contact 81 will clam the coin against the contact 80 and hol the coin in position to maintain the circuit.

l/Vhemthe coil 9 is energized, it pulls the core 10 into it and this actuates the rack -17 to rotatethe stop shaft 23 through the Thespi'ing 18 also operates to pull the core 10 back toward the left as viewed in Fig. 5. As this rotation occurs the driving pawl 20 moves back idly over the teeth of the ratchet wheel 21 and eventually comes into position,

so that its tail 66 engages the fixed adjustable stop 67. This holds the pawl out of the path of the teeth of the ratchet wheel 21 and enables the ratchet wheel to permit a backward rotation of the stop shaft 23 3 when it-returns to its initial position.

When the coil -9 pulls the rack 17 to the right, the rotary movement ofthe ear ,wheel 20 is imparted to the cam 29 w ich actuates the stem- 31 of the main valve ,30 and this permits compressed air 34 from the supply reservoir to flow through the main valve and through the auxiliary valve 36 which will also be set by the same rotary movement in its proper position to permit the air toflow through the pipe and port 42 and pipe 43 to the underside of the piston 44 of the actuating cylinder 25. This will .start a rising movement of the measuring piston 3 and this measuring movement will continue uninterrupted until the stop-head strikes the set stop 26..

When this occursthe stop-headwill shift the shaft 23 upwardl thereby disengaging the" detent ratchet wieel 5 6 from the de-' tent pawl 57. The sprin will then pull on the belt 53 and throug the spring pulley 52 operates to rotate the shaft 23 back to its initial position. This backward rotation will eorginue until the stop finger 58, projecting from the-cam. comes against the fixed stop'or' 0st 59. When the backward rotation of tie shaft 23 occurs the main .valve 30 will of course be permitted toclose.

by the passing away of the cam face from the end of the stem 31. Incidentally the auxiliary valve 36 will also be returned to its initial positon whichis the reverse of that shown in Fig. 12. The port 48 will tlien'connec't the pipe 38 to the pipe 47 and supply air from the auxiliary tank 37 to the other end; that is to say, the upper end of the cylinder. 25; this will start a return movement of the measuring piston 3. At

the end of the return movement the stop pin 28 will strike the gear 39 and shift the shaft 23 back to its initial position. The

spring pressed pin 64, cooperating with the twogrooves65, yieldingly holds thisshaft in either of its shifted o'sitions.

If the customer deslres to'put ina succession of coins of the-same or different denominations, he may do so provided the second or later coin is inserted before the measuring piston 3 commences its return stroke as described more fully herein'above. At the end of the down stroke of course the downward shifting of the stop. shaft 23 brings the detent ratchet wheel 56 back into the lane of the pawl 57.

hen the spring 55 sets the auxiliary valve.in position -to admit air from the auxiliary reservoir to the upper side of. the actuating cylinder 25, it also operates cam 29 to close the main valve. This prevents any escape of air from the main aii supply. 0 course, if the apparatus stands. a long while. unused, the air in the auxiliary cylinder might eventually leak out, but this is of no consequence,.as the volume iof the auxiliary reservoir is relatively small.

The method df operating the type of-apparatus shownin Fig. 4 has been fully described above. I

It is understood that 'theembodiment of the invention described herein is only one of the many embodiments this invention may take, and'I do not wish to be limitedao the practice of In invention, nor in my'clainis, to the particu ar embodiment set forth.

What I claim is:

1. In a vending apparatus having a measuring cylinder for. vending gasoline or the like, the combination of a rotary variable ment of the measuring piston a't selective stop-device operating to' arrest the movepoints, a'solenoid and acireuit therefor. 'having switches which may be closed-by .coins of different denomination, means aetuatd by the solenoid for operating the rotary variable' stop-device, and automatic means for determining the amount of movement imparted by the solenoid to the, rotary stop device to correspond with the denomination of the inserted coin.

Ill

2. In a vending apparatus having 'a meas uring cylinder-for vending'gasoline or the like, the combination of-a rotary variable stop-device operating'to arrest the movement of the measuring iston at' selective points, a solenoid coil wit a core and a' circuit passing through the coil, means connecting the solenoid core with the rotary stop-device for actuating the same, a plurality of circuits which may be closed re spectively by coins of different denominae tion, each circuit having a switch controlled by the solenoid core and operatingto determine the amount of movement of the core the amount of movement of the rotary stopdevice.

3. In a vending apparatus having a measuringcylinder for vending gasoline or the like,- the combination of a variable stop-dcvice operating to arrest the movement of the measuring piston'at selective points, a solenoid coil with its core, a circuit passing through the solenoid coil and having a plurality of branch circuits each having a switch capable of being closed by a coin of a certain denomination, a second switch in each branch circuit, said last named "switches being normally closed, automatic means for openin the last named switches in succession when t e core is advanced by the energized coil so as to sto the advance of the core at a predetermine point, depending upon the denomination of the inserted coin, and means actuated by the movement of the core to set the variable stop-device to correspond with the denomination of the inserted coin.

4. In a vending apparatus having a measuring cylinder for vending gasoline or the like, the combination of a variable stop-device operating to arrest the movement of the measuring piston at selective points, a solenoid 0011 with its core, a circuit passing through the solenoid coil and having a plurality of branch circuits each having a switch capable of being closed b a coinof a certain denomination, a secon switch in each branch circuit, said last named switches being normally closed, automatic means for opening the last named switches in succession when the core is advanced by the energized coil so as to' stop the advance of the core at a predetermined point, depending upon the denomination of the inserted com,

a ratchet-andawl device for actuating the,

variable stopevice and means for actuating the rate et-and-pawl device by the core to set the variable stop device to correspond switch. in each branch circuit, said last named switches being normally closed, automatic means for opening the switches in succession when the. core is advanced by the energized coil so as to sto the advance of the core at a predetermine point depending upon the denomination of an inserted coin,

a ratchet-and-pawl= device-for rotating the rotary stop-device and enabling the same to 'be advanced by the insertion of different coins in succession, and means for actuating the ratchet-and-p'av'vl device by the movement of the core to set the variable stop device to correspond with the inserted coins.

6. In'a vending apparatus having a measuring cylinder ffo'r vending gasoline or the like, the combination of a variable stopdevice operating to arrestthe movement of the measuring piston at selective points, a

solenoid coil with its core,'a circuit passing through the solenoid coil and having a plu-' rality' of branch circuits [each having a switch capable of being closed respectivel by a coin of a certain denomination, a hol ing magnet for holding the coin temporarily in position to maintain the circuit closed through the solenoid coil, a second switch in each branch circuit, said last named switches being normally closed, automatic means for opening the last named switches in succession when the core is advanced by the enel gized coil so as to open the circuit and thereby deenergize the holding magne'it and'permit the coin to fall, and also operatin to stop the advance of the core at a predetermined point depending upon the denomination of an ins erted coin, and means actuated by thelmovement of the core to set the rotary stop-device to correspond with the denomination of the inserted coin.

7. In a vending apparatus having a measuring cylinder and piston for vending gasoline or the like,-the combination of a variable stop-device operating to arrest the movement of the measuring piston at .se--

lective points, automatic means controlled by coins of different denomination for setting the variable stop-device to correspond with the inserted coin-actuating means for said piston, automatic. valve-means for controlling the said actuating means, actuated at the end of the measuring movement of the measuring piston to eliectthe return of the measuring piston to its initial position, and automatic means for returning the variable stop-device to its initial position.

8. In vending apparatus having a meas uring cylinder and ,piston for vending gasoline or the like,'the combination of stop headmoving with the measuring piston, a

variable stop-device having a rotary shaft with a' plurality of stops disposed progres sively at difi'erent an les' thereon so that ,any stop can project into the path ofthe stop-head with the remaining stops outof its path, to arrest the movement of the meas- -uring piston at selective points, means controlled by coins of different denomination for rotatmgthe fsaid shaft to set t e variable stop-device in different position to correspond with the inserted coin, a iratchet wheel carried by the sh ft, a detentpawl cooperating with the rate et wheel for hdld- ,ing the sa 1d shaft in any position .to which it is advanced, said shaft being mounted to shift longitudinally when a stop is struck measuring pisto'n to its initial position, and

by the stop-head and carry the ratchet automatic means for shifting the shaft lonwheel out of engagement with the detent gitudinally back to its initial position. 10 pawl to release the shaft from the same, Si ned at .Los Angeles, California, this i returning means for exerting a force to ro- 6th ay of February, 1925.

tate the said shaft back to its initial position, automatic means for returning the ROBERT R. ROBINSON. 

